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CHRISTIAN 

PHRENOLOGY 



CHRISTIAN 

PHRENOLOGY; 

OR THE 

TEACHINGS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 

RESPECTING THE 

ANIMAL, MORAL, AND INTELLECTUAL 

NATURE OF MAN. 

THREE LECTURES DELIVERED IN THE THISTLE HALL, 

DUNDEE, 

On Sundays, January 25th, February 1st and 8th, 1835 : 



BY 



HENRY QLARKE, 

MINISTER OP THE CONGREGATION. 



LECT. I. ANIMAL PROPENSITIES. 

II. MORAL SENTIMENTS. 

III. INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 




TO WHICH ARE ADDED, 

A PHRENOLOGICAL TABLE, 

NOTES, &c. 



SECOND EDITION. 



DUNDEE. \ 

Ifrfitulr at t|je %tobtxti$tv ®&tt t 

AND SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS IN DUNDEE ; J. ANDERSON, EDINBURGH ; 

AND R. HUNTER, LONDON. 

1835. 




Ma >-'■'' 






, 



PREFACE. 






" Christian Phrenology " is a new phrase. Whether it shall he 
deemed fitting that this phrase be allowed an honourable posi- 
tion in the society of " Christian Philosophy," "Christian Ethics," 
" Christian Counsel," and their numerous associates, must be de- 
cided by those who can at pleasure, by giving or withholding 
their support, augment or lessen the number of honourable posi- 
tions to be filled. To their judgment, therefore, the author of 
the following lectures must leave the entire disposal of that mat- 
ter : But, whatever may be its issue, one thing is certain, — that 
either the human mind and Christianity have never yet been 
fairly brought into juxtaposition and permitted to act mutually 
on each other, or the religion of Jesus is wholly unadapted to the 
great majority of minds. That God should present a moral and 
religious system to man, quite unsuited to the nature and condi- 
tion of the mass of those for whom it was designed, is impossible. 
To cherish the thought would be impiety — a daring insult to 
Heaven. A revelation from the Father of All must be adapted to 
all — designed for all. Why, then, does it reach the minds of so 
very small a minority, and influence the hearts of so few even of 
these? — Not surely because of any imbecility and inaptitude of 
Christianity : Nor can it be because the mind is unadapted to 
this religion; for, if it were, then the religion would be just as 
unsuited to the mind. The \ery partial reception of Christ's 
holy gospel into the soul must be owing to the lamentable fact, 
that the nature of the mind is so very imperfectly understood by 
both the people and their instructors — that, how rightly to apply 
Christianity to its moral diseases, the majority know not. It is 
indeed owned that Christ is a physician, and that his doctrines 
are medicines for the mind : But it is not generally perceived that 
each individual is himself to use the sanatives offered; and that, 
in order to do so, he must understand what his own mental con- 
stitution requires, and what regimen best agrees with his case. 
But he who is not at all, or but very slightly acquainted with his 
own constitution, cannot know how to use the medicament. To 



\r 



him it is inefficacious — worthless, although it came from Heaven, 
and is a boon of Heaven's King. Its efficacy and worth are in its 
application and effects. To secure its benefits and blessings, 
man must know himself. Phrenology offers to give this know- 
ledge. If it can fulfil its promise, then, it must be the friend and 
helpmate of Christianity. The author being fully convinced that 
this is the case, and having a firm faith in the divine mission of 
the Saviour and the regenerating and saving power of Christ's 
holy gospel, he desired that his bearers should possess a system 
of Mental Philosophy that would enable them both to know their 
own individual mental powers and moral dangers, and how to ap- 
ply Heaven's best gift to their own individual wants. With this 
view and wish the lectures were preached. With the same view 
and wish extended to society, they are now published. May their 
aim be secured, and to God be the praise ! 

Dundee, April 18, 1835. 



The following notices of the First Edition have appeared in the publi- 
cations whose names are sifbjoined. 

" It is a set of principles for practice ; and, to all who shall read the work, 
desirous of turning it to account, it will lend some aid to inquiry into the 
nature and interests of man as a rational and accountable being, and the 
applicability of Christianity to the constitution and improvement of the hu- 
man race. A spirit of liberality and genuine philanthropy breathes through- 
out ; and every man, whatever may be his religious opinions, may read 
the lectures with pleasure and profit." — Dundee Advertiser, May 1, 1835. 

" This is a book to refresh and gladden. There is so much of heart in 
$t — so much kindly feeling manifested towards all created things — that the 
reader must of necessity, whether he should agree with the author or not, 
rise from the perusal of his work inspired with respect and esteem for him- 
self. There is an utter want of cant and pretension about this small work, 
which greatly enhances its value ; and if humane and benevolent thoughts, 
expressed in eloquent language, can make a work popular, Mr Clarke's 
ought to be a favourite with the public." — Dundee Chronicle, May 9, 1835. 

" These lectures evince in their author a refined and cultivated under- 
standing, great purity of moral and religious feeling, and an ardent desire 
of the improvement and instruction of mankind. We trust that their cir- 
culation will be extensive, and are sure that they will meet with a favour- 
able reception from every enlightened Christian, whatever opinion he may 
entertain with respect to Phrenology." — Phrenological Journal, No. xlv., 
June 1835. 

Thus encouraged, the Author ventures to send forth a Second Edition. 
Dundpr, Juno 5, ]R35. 




TABLE OF PHRENOLOGICAL ORGANS ; 

THEIR USES AND ABUSES, AND THE EFFECTS OF THEIR BEING 

DEFECTIVELY DEVELOPED. 



ORDER I. FEELINGS. 

GENUS 1. PROPENSITIES COMMON TO MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMALS. 

The love of Life. The desire for Food and Drink : Use — nutrition : Abuses — gluttony 

and drunkenness. 



Names and uses of Organs. 

1. Amativeness — Love 

between the sexes. 

2. Philoprogenitive- 

ness — Love of chil- 
dren. 

3. Concentrativeness — 

Love of perma- 
nence of emotions 
and ideas, and of 
bringing all the 
thoughts to bear 
on one point. 



Abuses of Organs. 
Libidinousness. 

Indulging and spoiling 
children. 

Morbid dwelling on the 
emotions and ideas, 
to the neglect of 
the external world. 



Effects of Deficient Organs. 

Disregard or dislike of 
the other sex. 

Disregard or dislike of 
children. 



Incapacity to fix the 
mind or to concen- 
trate the thoughts. 



Names and Uses of Organs. 



Abuses of Organs. 



Effects of Deficient Organs. 






4. Adhesiveness—Love 

of friends, attach- 
ment, sociality. 

5. Combativeness — 
Love of contest a- 
gainst danger or 
difficulty, resist- 
ance, courage. 

6. Destructiveness — 
Love of destroying 
anything noxious 
or necessary to be 
destroyed. 

7. Secretiveness— Love 
of concealing the 
thoughts and in- 
tentions, reserve. 
Prudence, if join- 

ed with 12. 

8. Acquisitiveness — 
Love of acquiring, 
of accumulating, 
and possessing ar- 
ticles of utility. 

9. Constructiveness — 

Love of construct- 
ing useful things. 



Attachment to unwor- 
thy objects, inju- 
rious attachment. 

Contentiousness, pro- 
vocation, insult, 
war. 



Cruelty, passion, rage, 
revenge. With No. 
5 may lead to in- 
jury of others, or 
even murder. 

Low cunning, deceit, 
duplicity, lying, 
treachery. 



Selfishness, covetous- 
ness, avarice. With 
No. 7 may lead to 
theft and general 
dishonesty. 

Constructing things in- 
jurious. 



Regardlessness of 

friends, attachment 

weak. 
Inability to face danger 

and contend with 

difficulty. 



Want of power to de- 
stroy even that 
which needs de- 
stroying. 

Incapacity to maintain 
secrecy when ne- 
cessary ; a tenden- 
cy to reveal all 
that is known ; im- 
prudence. 

Disinclination to ac- 
quire ; improvi- 
dence. 



Deficient capability to 
construct. 



GENUS 2. SENTIMENTS. 



1. Sentiments common to Man and the Lower Animals. 



Names and Uses of Organs. 

10. Self-esteem — Love 
of self, self-respect, 
dignity. 

1 1 . Love of approbation 

— Love of others' 
esteem or praise — 
love of fame. 

12. Cautiousness--Love 

of caution or cir- 
cumspection. If 
joined with 7, gives 
prudence. 

2. 

13. Benevolence— Love 

of doing good or 
making others hap- 
py, kindness, cha- 
rity. 

14. Veneration — Love 

of that which is 
deemed great and 
good, disposing to 
adore and worship 
religiously. 



Abuses of Organs. 

Self-conceit, pride, 
disdain, domina- 
tion, tyranny. 

Vanity, ambition, envy ; 
too great thirst for 
praise ; living on 
others' opinion. 

Excessive fear, de- 
spondency, and 
melancholy. 



Effects of Deficient Organs. 

Regardless of self-re- 
spect, want of dig- 
nity. 

Regardlessness of 
praise and of others' 
opinion. 

Inattention to danger, 
incautious, preci- 
pitate. 



Sentiments proper to Man. 

Profusion, prodigality, Indifference to the good 
too easy and gene- and happiness of 

rous. others. 



Venerating mere anti- 
quated and unwor- 
thy objects, super- 
stition, worship- 
ping the ideal. 



Indifference to the 
great and good, 
and to adoration 
and worship. 



7 



Names and Uses of Organs. 

15. Firmness — Love of 

determination and 
perseverance ; giv- 
ing fixedness of 
purpose ; fortitude. 

16. Conscientiousness — 

Love of right, jus- 
tice, and truth. 

17. Hope — Love of an- 

ticipating and look- 
ing for future good, 
faith. 

18. Wonder — Love of 
the wonderful, the 
new, and extraor- 
dinary, and of 
dwelling on things 
unseen. 

19. Ideality — Love of 

the beautiful, the 
splendid, and su- 
blime ; the poeti- 
cal, the perfect. 
21. Wit— Love of ob- 
serving discrepan- 
cies and congrui- 
ties. 

20. Imitation — Love of 
imitating, or copy- 
ing either manners 
or nature. 



Abuses of Organs. 

Stubbornness, infatua- 
tion, obstinacy. 



Tenacious of wrong, 
if deemed right, 
and of falsehood, 
if thought truth. 

Credulity, unwarrant- 
able expectation. 
With 17, makes a 
visionary. 

Eagerness for the mar- 
vellous and the ex- 
travagant; and with 
10, fanatical. 



Effects of Deficient Organs. 
Want of decision, ir- 
resolution. 



Disregard of right and 
wrong, truth and 
falsehood. 

Tendency to doubt 
and despair. 



Disregard of the truly 
wonderful. 



18 



Romantic, absurdity, Carelessness about the 
living in an ideal beautiful and su- 

world. blime, grossness. 



Inattention to discre- 
pancy and congru- 
ity. 



Turning everything to 
ridicule. With No. 
6, mischievous 
tricks and satire. 

Mimicry of others' de- Incapacity to imitate, 
fects, or buffoon- 
ery. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 

GENUS 1. EXTERNAL SENSES SEEING, HEARING, FEELING, TASTING, SMELLING 

GENUS 2. INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES, WHICH PERCEIVE EXISTENCE. 



Names and Uses of Organs. 
22. Individuality — Per- 
ceives simple facts 
and existences. 



23. 



24. 



25. 



26. 



Form — Perceives 
form. 

Size — Perceives 
size and dimension. 
Weight — Perceives 
weight and mo- 
mentum. 

Colouring — Per- 
ceives colour. 



Abuses of Organs. 
Over - anxiety about 

facts to the neglect 

of reasoning — idle 

curiosity. 
More solicitous about 
forms than their uses. 
The same of size as of 

form. 
The same of weight as 

last two. 

The same of colour as 
last three. 



Effects of Deficient Organs. 
Small power to ac- 
quire facts. 



Indifferent at discri- 
minating form. 

Same of size as of 
form. 

Same as last two. 

Same as last three. 



GENUS 3. INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES, WHICH TERCEIVE THE RELATION 

OF EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 

Names and Uses of Organs. Abuses of Organs. Effects of Deficient Organs. 

27. Locality — Perceives Too great a devoted- Incapacity to find 

space and relative ness to mere lc- places and posi- 

position. calitics. lions. 



8 



Name* and Uses of Organs. 

28. Number — Perceives 

the relations of 
numbers. 

29. Order — Perceives 
relative arrange- 
ment. 



Abuses of Organs. 

Sacrificing higher ob- 
jects to mere cal- 
culation. 

Too sensitive to a 
want of order — 
finical. 



Effects of Deficient Organs. 
Inability to calculate 
numbers. 

Inattention to orderly 
arrangement. 



30. Eventuality — Per- Given up to the study Disregardful of events. 



ceives the relation 
of events. 

31. Time — Perceives 
duration. 

32. Tune — Perceives 
melody. 

33. Language — Per- 
ceives the signs of 
thought or words, 
and employs them 



of events and idle 

story-telling. 
Too scrupulous about 

time. 
Given up wholly to 

music. 
Dealing chiefly in 

words — given to 

logomachy. 



Defective at measur- 
ing time. 
Small power for music. 

Difficulty in clothing 
the ideas in words. 



Too speculative and 
metaphysical. 



Neglectful of the causes 
of effects and of 
logical reasoning. 



freely. 

GENUS 4. REFLECTIVE FACULTIES, WHICH COMPARE, DISCRIMINATE, AND JUDGE, 

Names and Uses of Organs. Abuses of Organs. Effects of Deficient Organt. 

34. Comparison — Re- Too anxious about Regardless of analogy. 

fleets on analogies, analogies. 

resemblances, and 

the conditions of 

things. 
33. Causality — Reflects 

on cause and ef- 
fect, and traces 

their connexion. 

24, 25, 26, 29, and 28, are indicated on the figure by the dots beginning 

at the root of the nose. 

If the first column be read from top to bottom through the whole Table, 
it will be seen that the uses of the organs are all good — highly impor- 
tant — absolutely necessary : But, if the second column be* read in the 
same manner, it will be perceived that the abuses of the organs produce 
all the crimes known among men ; while, reading the third column 
wholly by itself, will show that deficient organs, even those that may be 
most awfully misapplied, are by no means to be desired. The deficiency 
would not be an improvement. Upon these principles the following lec- 
tures proceed. Self-esteem, Love of Approbation, and Cautiousness, are 
admitted into the second lecture, although they are semi-animal, because 
they have in their uses a decided moral tendency. By looking at the 
uses and abuses of Veneration, Hope, and Wonder, it will be found that 
they may either exalt to high-toned religion, or debase to grovelling su- 
perstition — belief in prodigies, magic, ghosts, and all kinds of absurdities ; 
and even Conscientiousness may, when joined with these in its abused 
state, aid the delusion and swell the evils. The abuses of the organs only 
are sins ; and from these sins the majority of human miseries flow. To 
use the organs aright is of couTse to avoid transgression and to escape 
suffering ; and this again is to be virtuous and happy. In the hope of 
prombting this object, the science exhibited in this tabular view and the 
Christian religion are here associated under the appellation " Christian 
Phrenology." 



CHRISTIAN 

PHRENOLOGY. 



ANIMAL PROPENSITIES. 



COLOSSIANS III. 5—10. 

M Mortify, therefore, your members, which are upon the earth, — fornica- 
tion, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covet- 
ousness, which is idolatry ; for which things' sake the wrath of God 
cometh on the children of disobedience ; — in the which ye also walked 
some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these, 
— anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your 
mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old 
man with his deeds, and have put on the new man ; which is renewed 
in knowledge, after the image of him that created him." 

By some it is affirmed that man is half brute half demon : 
By others it is asserted that man is but a little lower than 
the angels. Those who maintain the first opinion, conceive 
that human beings must, as the result of their nature, feel like 
beasts and act like furies. Those who cherish the second opi- 
nion, think that rational creatures, when they are using — not 
abusing — their natural powers, must both feel and act as be- 
ings who occupy an elevated position in the scale of existences. 
Whence springs this difference ? Why is man " in doubt to 
deem himself a god or beast?" The difference of opinion 
arises from defective views of man's nature, taken as a whole. 
The doubt owes its existence to the too common practice of 

B 



10 

looking at one time only upon the animal propensities of man r 
when these have been terribly abused and awfully misemploy- 
ed ; and, at another time, viewing- only the moral sentiments 
and intellectual faculties of man when these have been well- 
trained and wisely directed. Under one aspect, man does 
seem a demon ; under the other, he appears a god. 

When man acts as an animal who possesses intelligence, 
only to ramify and augment the force of the mere propensi- 
ties, then, indeed, the course he pursues is marked by crime 
and misery, and his dwelling-place is the abode of woe. But 
when man acts as a moral and intellectual being, who possesses 
animal propensities only to employ them as powerful stimu- 
lants to his higher faculties, then is his path- way strewed with 
blessings and his home is the residence of peace. To be ac- 
quainted, then, with the functions, the influences, and modes 
of rightly employing the various mental powers, must be of all 
things the most important. Man's present interests depend 
upon this knowledge. Man's advancement in moral and intel- 
lectual culture depends upon it ; and upon this knowledge de- 
pends his future destiny. 

How can a man rightly employ his powers unless he knows 
what powers he possesses ? How can he improve unless he 
understands the method ? How can he guard his weaknesses 
unless he is aware of them ? or put forth his strength unless 
he is acquainted with its nature and extent ? Without a know- 
ledge of self, all other knowledge loses its chief value. The 
external world presents its highest forms of beauty only to 
that eye which knows how to view them. The material crea- 
tion gives its purest pleasures only to that mind which knows 
how to feel them. The more knowledge a person has of him- 
self, the more does he know of the capabilities which sur- 
rounding nature possesses of furnishing him with enjoyment. 
" The proper study of mankind is man." Void of the know- 
ledge which this study brings, we could not with certainty af- 
firm that Christianity is adapted to the nature and wants of 
man. If we really know that the Christian system is just fit- 
ted to our faculties and condition, we must understand what 



11 

those faculties and that condition are. I fear, comparatively 
few even among professing Christians have this knowledge. 
And this I take to be the chief reason why Christianity is so 
imperfectly understood and so feebly and inefficiently applied. 
Man is supposed to be a totally different creature from that 
which he really is ; and then Christianity is imagined to have 
in view the accomplishment of objects the very reverse of 
those for which it is designed. It is conceived that a human 
being can never act righteously and become holy unless his 
nature undergo a miraculous change ; and then Christianity is 
viewed as a mysterious power for working this miracle. To 
take the religion of Christ, and apply it to its uses, as other 
gifts of God are accepted and employed, is thought to be be- 
yond the natural capabilities of man. Instead of laying hold 
of the gospel, man is to wait till the gospel lays hold of him. 
To attempt to save himself is deemed an unpardonable sin. 
A man may feed and clothe his body — he may preserve his 
health, and even raise himself high into the regions of science 
and mental culture — by the voluntary use of the means which 
his Creator has supplied. But he must not, on pain of eter- 
nal perdition, think of voluntarily feeding his soul with "the 
bread which came down from Heaven," and exalting himself 
by Christianity to holiness and endless happiness. Surely this 
must be a great mistake. Its effects are obviously evil. Men 
wait for influences from without, which should proceed from 
within. By this error, I much fear, multitudes are wholly de- 
prived of those inestimable blessings of our Lord's teachings 
which they might otherwise enjoy. I would guard you 
against it. 

Let us then examine the New Testament representation of 
man's nature. We do not confine ourselves to this part of the 
Bible, because we disesteem or undervalue the Old Testa- 
ment : It is simply because, on the present occasion, we de- 
sire to ascertain what Jesus and his Apostles taught respect- 
ing the mental powers of man. We wish to know what were 
their doctrines on the animal propensities, the moral senti- 
ments, and the intellectual faculties. What do they say of 



12 

the human mind ? This will be the subject of inquiry in this 
and two succeeding lectures. 

I. They teach that man has animal propensities ; and that 
from these chiefly sin springs. These are spoken of as deeds 
of the flesh, inordinate affection, carnal mind, evil concupis- 
cence, covetousness, lust, anger, urrath, malice. All these are 
fruits of the animal propensities, or the inferior powers of hu- 
man nature. Those who manifest such fruits are said to be 
" in the flesh," to " live in sin," " to be carnally-minded, and 
therefore at enmity against God." " They are not subject to 
the law of God."j They yield " their members servants to un- 
cleanness and iniquity." They are " brought into captivity to 
the law of sin, which is in their members." They are the 
bond-slaves of their own ungoverned, unholy desires. Now, 
this is precisely accordant with the views of man's nature 
which are given by that system of mental philosophy with 
which we desire to compare Christianity. According to Phre- 
nology, man's animal propensities are the powers by which he 
is chiefly led astray.* But how ? These propensities are pos- 
sessed by irrational creatures, and yet they do not sin against 
God. Why then does man ? — Just because he is a rational 
being. The beasts of the field can employ their propensities 
only in one way. That way is natural. The natural use of a 
power is proper, necessary, right. Were man to employ his 
animal propensities naturally, he would no more make his 
members the servants of sin than do the birds of the air, the 
fish of the sea, and the inhabitants of the forest. But man's 
rational powers enable him to employ his propensities unna- 
turally. Deprive the greatest sinner in existence of his ra- 
tional faculties, and leave him in possession of all his animal 
propensities, and he is not one moment longer held to be a 
sinner. He cannot sin, because he cannot distinguish between 
right and wrong. It is reason, then, that enables man to sin. 
But it is with the animal propensities mostly that sins are com- 
mitted. Those propensities are the instruments and the 

* See Animal Propensities, on Figure and in Table. 



13 

power ; but the reasoning faculties alone can direct them to 
sin. The intellect misemploys the propensities, and then ini- 
quity is the result. 

It is upon this principle that infants, idiots, and lunatics, are 
exempt from the charge and punishment of criminality, al- 
though they may do injury to others. They cannot reason ; 
and therefore they are not accountable for their actions. 
They may have all the animal propensities, and these may 
manifest terrible effects ; but the agents are void of rea- 
son ; and this is admitted to exonerate them from moral, so- 
cial, and religious obligations. And both inability and igno- 
rance are made grounds of exemption from condemnation by 
the Christian system. " If ye were blind," says Jesus, " ye 
should have no sin." " But sin is not imputed," says Paul, 
" where there is no law :" " For where no law is, there is no 
transgression." The religion of Christ does not denounce the 
animal propensities, nor require their extermination : But it 
does denounce the misuse of them, and require that they 
should be properly governed and rightly directed. 

II. The Author of Christianity and his Apostles appeal to 
the animal propensities, as to powers that are in themselves 
both necessary and good. Without those propensities many 
of the precepts of the New Testament could not be obeyed. 
Love of wife, love of offspring, and love of neighbour, friend, 
and mankind, are enjoined upon the followers of Christ. And 
yet these various kinds of affection owe their existence far 
less to the intellectual nature of man than to the animal. 
Again, Christians are commanded to " fight the good fight," 
to " war a good warfare," to " contend earnestly for the faith," 
to " overcome evil with good," to " crucify, mortify, or de- 
stroy the deeds of iniquity," to be " wise as serpents," and to 
" lay up for themselves treasures in Heaven." Now, here are 
no less then seven of the nine animal propensities which Phre- 
nology enumerates, called into exercise by the Christian code.* 
Nor in that code is there anything inimical to the remaining 

* See Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5., 6, 7, 8. 



14 

two. Respecting each of the animal propensities planted in 
man, the language of Paul may with strictest propriety be 
employed. " Every creature of God is good." And surely 
no one will dare to maintain that the animal nature of man 
is not a creature of God. If the Creator did not bestow upon 
him that nature, who did? And if the animal nature of man 
be the work of some other being than God, can man be a 
creature of God? — Assuredly not: He lias another Creator. 
But if he who endowed man with his higher powers, bestow- 
ed upon him also the lower, " who art thou, O man ! that re- 
pliest against God ? Shall the thing formed say to him that 
formed it, why hast thou made me thus ?" If the animal pro- 
pensities occasion pain, remember that it was not for tins they 
were made part of the constitution. They were meant to pro- 
duce pleasure. If they lead to sin, bear carefully in mind 
that this is not their use. They were intended to be the 
servants of virtue.* If they are employed as the instruments 
of self-degradation, keep steadily in view the fact that this is 
their criminal abuse. They were meant for blessings ; but 
their possessors too often convert them to curses. Their de- 
signed end was to minister to human enjoyments • but not 
unfrequently they are made the agents of human misery. But 
this does not prove that they are in themselves evils. As 
well might we conclude that religion is an evil because men 
have made it an instrument of bigotry and persecution, an 
engine of crooked state politics, and a pretext for tyranny, 
wars, and every abomination. Every good may be perverted 
to an evil. But what does this prove ? — That man, as a neces- 
sary consequence of his nature, is compelled thus to pervert 
the gifts of Heaven ? Then he cannot be blameworthy. He 
cannot be a responsible being ; he cannot merit punishment. 
But such conclusions would be as unphilosophical as they are 
anti-Christian. Jesus teaches the reverse. 

III. According to the Christian Scriptures, the animal pro- 
pensities may be kept within the limits of virtue and religion. 

* See their uses, in Table. 



15 

It is through these propensities that temptations assail us. 
Take away the propensities, and you take away temptation. 
A temptation is a desire — a wish. But a temptation is not a 
sin. For Jesus " was in all things tempted, as we are, and 
yet he was without sin." He never yielded to temptation. 
He therefore never sinned. To sin is to yield to temptation 
and transgress a law of God. But God never enacted a law 
forbidding man to he tempted. Sin, then, is not in the wish, 
the desire, the temptation involuntarily arising — but in the 
consent of the mind, and the employment of means to attain 
the object desired. When that object is unlawful, the consent 
is sin in thought, the use of means to attain it is sin in deed. 
Now, these inordinate affections, these lusts of the flesh, are 
to be resisted. Let us hear the language of Scripture. 

" Mortify the deeds of the body." " Let not sin reign in 
your members." " Lay aside filthiness, malice, guile, sin." 
" Yield your members servants to righteousness." " Be 
transformed by the renewing of your mind." " Grow in 
grace." " Every man is tempted when he is drawn away 
of his own lust, and enticed ; then when lust hath conceived 
it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth 
death." " Abstain from all appearance of evil." " They that 
are Christ's have crucified the flesh." And Jesus adds, " He 
that will be my disciple, let him deny himself and take up his 
cross and follow me." Upon no other supposition than that 
man has the necessary power to resist temptation, overcome 
sin, and direct aright his animal propensities, can language 
like this have any obvious meaning. And yet it is the cur- 
rent language of the New Testament. Could Jesus require 
from his disciples that which they did not possess ? Could 
he command them to do that for which they had no power ? 
Could he tell them to learn of him, when he knew they were 
utterly incapable of doing so ? — Impossible. Yet Jesus knew 
what was in man. He must therefore have known that man 
was capable of doing whatsoever he commanded. He must have 
known that his teachings were adapted to the nature of the 
beings to whom those teachings were offered. 



f 



16 

Man, then, can resist sin. He can prevent its reign in his 
members. He can lay aside evil. He can become renewed, 
transformed in the spirit of his mind. He can deny himself: 
In other words — he can restrain, regulate, and direct his 
animal propensities, so as to prevent their excess and in- 
terdict their transgression of the laws of God. He who 
does this mortifies the deeds of the body — denies his animal 
self — that self which alone is to be denied overcomes temp- 
tation and fights a good fight. And these principles of 
Christianity perfectly accord with the views taken of mind by 
the science of Phrenology. That system of mental philosophy 
shows that the animal propensities not only may be governed 
by the moral sentiments and the intellectual powers, but 
must be so governed, or the individual will by their wild ex- 
cesses violate the laws of his Creator and become obnoxious 
to their penalties.* 

IV. But the Christian Scriptures assure us that to govern 
the animal propensities, and thereby overcome temptation 
and sin, is to attain virtue and religion. Were there no 
temptation, this could not be a state of probation. Trial and 
discipline can take place only in a condition where the indivi- 
duals who are probationers are at liberty to do wrong. Were 
they exposed to no dangers they could have nothing to de- 
fend. If no allurements assailed them they would have 
nothing to resist. If they were never tempted they could 
never overcome. A man placed on an island where there was 
no human being but himself could not steal, cheat, or injure 
his fellow-man. But there would be nothing virtuous and 
praiseworthy in his abstinence. He could not do otherwise. 
He finds no opportunity — he feels no temptation — he has no 
allurement to resist. As far as honesty and justice are con- 
cerned he is not in a state of trial. He cannot while he re- 
mains alone earn the character of an honest and just man. " To 
him that overcometh," says our Lord, " will I grant to sit 
with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am 

* See the Abuses of the Organs, in Table. 



17 

*et down with my Father in his throne." " My brethren," says 
James, " count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, 
knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience." 
" Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is 
tried he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath 
promised to them that love him." He who overcomes the 
most temptation achieves the most splendid moral victories ; 
he shall wear the brightest crown and be seated on the most 
glorious throne. To such a conqueror of self, the most suc- 
cessful leader of armies and fleets can bear no comparison. 
All the martial and naval conquests on record combined in 
one, would be an infinitely less pleasing sight in the view of 
Heaven, than the single conquest obtained by him who sub- 
dues his own animal propensities, and compels them to obey 
at all times his higher powers.. This is the victor whose brow 
shall be garlanded with an imperishable wreath of glory — 
whose name shall be written on the eternal scroll of God, and 
whose triumph shall be celebrated in Heaven. 

And, that man is constituted upon the principle which re- 
quires the moral and intellectual powers to assume supreme 
control over the animal propensities, is as essentially a funda- 
mental doctrine of Phrenology as it is of Christianity. On 
this point they both speak one language. Each says that he 
who is held in chains by his blind unreasoning appetites is 
the most miserable of slaves. Both affirm that he who is 
completely master of his propensities enjoys the sweetest, 
dearest, liberty. He is emancipated from the thraldom of 
vice, because his members are in subjection. And, although 
the Creator has made men to differ, and has bestowed upon 
one ten talents, and upon another only one, yet, according to 
both systems now before us, every one is required by his own 
good to employ diligently and improve carefully the powers 
and faculties which he holds. They are a trust — they will 
have to be accounted for. Neglect and abuse will meet with 
punishment. Attention and improvement will obtain reward. 
We close with three remarks. 

1. According to these views, man is to be rendered reli- 

c 



18 

oious, not by the destruction, but by the direction of the ani- 
mal propensities. Take away man's power to sin, and his in- 
nocence is involuntary. And involuntary innocence is no 
more of the nature of religion than is our breathing. " True 
religion before God the Father " is to do deeds of charity 
when an opposite course might have been pursued ; and ta 
" keep unspotted from the world" when there might have 
been a yielding to corruption. The new birth required — the 
new creation proposed to be effected by Christianity — is no- 
where said to mean the annihilation of the animal nature of 
man. Man is a new creature when he has been changed from 
that state in which his higher powers were slaves of his 
lower, to that in which his propensities are the servants of 
his moral and intellectual faculties. This is putting off the 
old man. This is putting on the new man. But this is not 
putting off the animal nature, and putting on some other na- 
ture. The most religious man on earth lias still the very 
same animal propensities as he possessed before he became re- 
ligious, but he employs them differently. He uses them 
aright ; and he now finds them too good to wish to have 
them eradicated ; he turns them to the most account, and 
thanks God that he possesses them. 

2. Christianity and Phrenology both represent sin as a 
voluntary act of man, not as an essential constituent of the 
mind, — it is that which may be avoided. To turn men away 
from iniquity was the great object of our Saviour's mission. 
" Go, and sin no more," said Jesus to the woman who stood 
before him charged with adultery. And yet he sent her 
away with the same nature and powers as she had when the 
crime was committed. He neither allowed her to suppose 
that sin was involuntary and unavoidable, nor undertook to 
work such a change in her nature as would render her in- 
capable of sinning and compel her to obey his injunction. 
Were sin a law of man's nature, then sinning would be obey- 
ing that law ; and obedience, when free, is virtue ; and every 
act that is not free is neither virtuous nor vicious. But sin, 
we are told, is non-obedience or transgression of the law. It 



19 

is a violation of a known principle of right, by a being pos* 
sessed of the power to have acted in accordance with that 
principle, and to have performed the right. Sin, then, is a 
stain on the mind, but it may be washed away. It is a 
foul blot, but it may be cleansed. Christ has supplied the best 
means for putting away sin, and Phrenology is a practical ap- 
plication of those means. 

3. Both Christianity and Phrenology forbid us to view 
man's nature as a mixture of brute and demon. They who 
are become half brute half demon are said to be "without na- 
tural affection," and to be " given up to vile affections." " As 
they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave 
them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are 
not convenient ; being filled with all unrighteousness." They 
are " men of corrupt minds." They are in an unnatural state. 
They are degraded, debased, and " gone out of the way." 
But, while we may point to them as melancholy proofs 
of what human beings may become, we must not point to 
them as evidences of what human nature in its essence and 
constitution is. We might as justly adduce Socrates, New- 
ton, and Howard, as proofs that the nature of every man is 
wise, and good, and great, as hold up Nero, King Henry the 
Eighth, and Judge Jeffreys, as evidences that the nature of 
every man is base, cruel, and depraved. To place the crimes 
of men to the account of an uncontrollably sinful nature, is to 
exculpate them from blame. It is more : It is asserting that 
man is unimprovable. It is condemning all plans and attempts 
which aim at exalting the human mind. It is pronouncing all 
human means unavailing to elevate the human character. It 
is representing a human being as too worthless, despicable, 
and vile, to be the object of virtuous affection. Let man be 
the loathsome reptile that he is sometimes supposed, and he 
is unworthy of regard, undeserving of respect, and utterly 
destitute of any claims upon the laws of benevolence and truth. 
Then, duty to each other men cannot owe. Beings who were 
compounded of only brute propensities and demon hate, work- 
ed up to a nature radically and universally depraved, must in- 



30 

variably act as demon-brutes. But is this the case ? Are om 
social, scientific, charitable, and religious institutions, proofs 
that we are demon-brutes ? Whenever a man sincerely la- 
ments that the human race is nothing but beast and demon> 
his own lament demonstrates that his views are false. He is 
not himself a demon-beast ; for, if he were, no such lamenta- 
tion could escape him. 

Does the tiger lament his own fierceness, or the serpent 
mourn over his degradation and poison ? And as impossible 
would it be for man — for any man — to sigh for human nature, 
if the nature of every human being were brutified and demon- 
ized. The good man's sighs over sin prove that he is not all 
sin. Man has indeed an animal nature, but he has also an in- 
tellectual nature. When the former absorbs the latter — when 
the mind, or soul, is swallowed up in mere sense — then truly 
man becomes an awful offender. His enormities are terrible. 
He would then disgrace the beasts, and perhaps even disho- 
nour demons. But, wben the animal part of man is purified 
by man's moral sentiments and absorbed by his intellectual 
faculties, then is it manifest that there is a noble " spirit in 
man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him under- 
standing." u His deeds then are wrought in the love of God 
and man :" " He then evinceth the same mind which was 
also in Christ :" And then he gives forth evidence that " God 
hath made him but a little lower than the angels, and hath 
crowned him with glory and honour." 

Such, my friends, are the powerful motives, the thrilling 
encouragements given you to act upon the advice of Paul, and 
to obey the commandments of Christ. You see that your ani- 
mal propensities are goodif not abused — you perceive that their 
misuse is sin and misery, an offence against God, and an injury 
inflicted upon yourselves. You find that Christianity is adapt- 
ed to your nature, if you will apply it ; and you discover that 
your nature is formed for a moral and intellectual training. 
He who is the light of the world, the way, the trutlr, and the 
life, is the instructor and guide which you need. Keep full in 
view, then, the elements of vour own nature. Remember the 



21 

dangers to which your animal propensities expose you. Ac- 
cept the means offered for your defence ; and, when you pos- 
sess them, hold them firmly and employ them wisely. Then 
will you avoid the evil, secure the good, exalt your mind, re- 
fine your heart, and be making ready to quit " the earthly house 
of this tabernacle," and become inhabitants of that " house not 
made with hands, eternal in the Heavens." 



MORAL SENTIMENTS. 



ROMANS VII. 22, 23. 

" For I delight in the law of God, after the inward man ; but I see ano- 
ther law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and 
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. *' 

By the "members," we are doubtless to understand the animal 
propensities. By " the law of sin which is in the members," 
is signified the tendency of the animal propensities to lead 
astray ; and, when they do lead astray, sin and misery follow in 
their divergent course. To restrain their aberrations, and to 
keep them in that straight path along which they may lawfully 
proceed, and which conducts them to innocent gratification 
and innoxious pleasures, they need controlling power and 
guiding aid. Where are these to be found ? In the gospel, 
it is replied. There is grace to help in every time of need — 
there is aid for the weak — there is comfort for the sighing — 
there is rest for the weary. All who enter the strait gate 
and pursue the narrow way will resist temptation and be pre- 
served from sin. True : But still another inquiry presses itself 
on our attention : Are there any natural faculties in man, 
through whose instrumentality these means are applied? 
While Christianity speaks of the carnal or fleshly mind, of 
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and worldly lusts, does 



22 

it recognize any powers in man by which the merely sensual 
appetites may be preserved from sinful and injurious excess ? 
To these, and all similar questions, Paul, in the words before 
us, supplies a satisfactory answer. " I delight in the law of 
God, after the inward man," and the sin of my members is 
against the law of my mind. There are, then, in man, natural 
principles opposed to sin. There is an inward man that 
delights in the law of God. There is a law of the mind 
which wars against the excesses of the animal propensities. 
It is only by warring against this " inward man," and " the 
law of the mind," and overcoming them, that the inordinate 
affections of the flesh can gain their ends and riot in crimi- 
nality. And it is therefore to these natural faculties of man 
that Christianity applies herself in order to oppose iniquity. 
These faculties she offers to aid in their war against the 
encroachments and domination of the members. And she 
gives the most solemn assurance, that, if her assistance be 
accepted and her advice received, the inward man shall be 
renewed, day by day, with giant strength, to " fight the good 
fight," to " mortify the deeds of unrighteousness," and to 
achieve a series of splendid conquests, which shall conduct to 
a firm and lasting dominion. 

What, then, is the inward man or law of the mind, of which 
the Apostle speaks, and through which Christianity seeks to 
resist and destroy iniquity ? — the moral sentiments. Of these 
Phrenology enumerates ten or twelve,* and they may be said 
to be designed to lead to the due performance of duties to 
self, duties to others, and duties to God. 

1. Duties to self. The moral sentiments more immediately 
engaged in the discharge of these duties are termed Self- 
esteem, Love of Approbation, and Cautiousness. Self-respect 
is the only stepping-stone to Self-exaltation. It is an essential 
ingredient in the regard which is had by man to his own 
character — it is the basis of all true honour, dignity, and 
moral greatness. It is that which exalts the mind above 

* See Table, — Moral Sentiments, 



23 

meanness, servility, and baseness ; and raises it to the noble 
elevation where it sees its own worth and perceives its 
connexion with the moral creation of God. It is that senti- 
ment which says, by the mouth of Paul, man is " the temple 
of the living God ;" which affirms, through Jesus, that rational 
beings are the children of a Heavenly Father, designed to 
become inhabitants of mansions in the sky, and to wear the 
image and share the glory and kingdom of Christ. And such 
Self-respect was personally exhibited in the character of Jesus. 

And this sentiment stands most intimately connected with 
the desire to obtain the approbation of others. And no wish 
of the human breast is more worthy than that which is most 
eager to obtain a good name and to deserve it. The esteem, 
and even the praise, of our fellow-men, may be legitimately 
desired and virtuously sought. To seek this esteem and 
praise was the object to which Jesus desired to stimulate his 
followers, when he said, " He that humbleth himself shall be 
exalted ;" " and, when thou art bidden to a feast, take the 
lower seat, and when he who bade thee comes in, he will say, 
friend, go up higher ; then shalt thou have worship of them 
that sit at meat with thee." Not only, then, may a man 
labour honestly to secure the good opinion of others, but it is 
a duty which he owes to himself so to do. His influence in 
society depends upon it. His own happiness depends upon it. 
How can he be happy who is an object of dislike to all who 
know him ? There is but one way for such a one to escape 
from the self-tormenting thoughts which the knowledge of 
being generally disesteemed is calculated to excite, that is — 
to be void of Self-respect. But then, what a pitiably-degraded 
being must he be who neither respects himself nor possesses 
the respect of others ! How immeasurably removed from him 
who has both ! 

It is, however, obvious, that both Self-respect and the 
esteem of others require the conjoint operations of Cautious- 
ness. This sentiment acts as a truly valuable guard. " Watch," 
says our Lord, " and what I say, I say unto all, Watch." Care, 
circumspection, and even fear of doing wrong, are very fre- 



24 

quently enjoined by the Christian Scriptures. " Use all dili- 
gence," says an Apostle, " to make your calling and election 
sure." But this diligence, watchfulness, and fear of indulging 
criminality, must depend chiefly upon the amount of caution 
exerted. So, then, these moral sentiments must cooperate in 
the performance of those duties by the discharge of which 
alone it is that man can secure the good opinion of those 
around, and attain the glorious eminence of Self-respect. 
These are sections of the law of the mind : These are in- 
tegral parts of the inward man : These are the instruments 
by which Christianity would work the works that duties to 
self require. Nor without these natural powers could Chris- 
tianity accomplish the objects whereunto it is sent. The 
gospel cannot beget Self-respect and the desire of others' 
esteem in grovelling swine ; they have not the necessary 
natural sentiments ; and the teachings of our Lord do not 
profess to lessen or augment the number of the natural powers 
of any created beings. The sole object of those teachings is 
to direct the natural powers aright. To birds and beasts the 
New Testament is not addressed, for the simple reason, that 
they can neither see nor feel that it is " the wisdom of God 
and the power of God." And, to human beings totally devoid 
of the moral sentiments, it could no more apply as a guard, a 
guide, and stimulant to the discharge of duty and the attain- 
ment of excellence, than it can apply for these purposes to the 
terrific king of the forest. Its applicability arises from the 
existence of the powers, and the existence of the powers con- 
stitutes the applicability. 

2. There are next to be considered moral sentiments, which 
are principal instruments in the discharge of the duties that 
an individual owes to others. These are termed Conscien- 
tiousness and Benevolence.* Among the most frequently-re- 
peated and solemnly-enjoined duties of a Christian, are those 
of kindness, forgiveness, honesty, justice, and brotherly love. 
u Above all things," says Paul, " put on charity." " Love is 

* See Table. 



25 

the fulfilling of the law." " Whatsoever ye would that men 
should do unto you," says Jesus, " do ye even so to them ;" 
" for by this shall it be known that ye are my disciples, if ye 
have love one towards another." And all such appeals are 
made to the natural sentiments of justice and benevolence. 
Christian love is benevolence. In vain would the gospel call 
upon man to love his fellow-man, and seek to do him good, 
unless God had planted in human nature powers to answer the 
call. An echo from vacuity might as easily be obtained as a 
response to the most thrilling language of Christian benevo- 
lence, from that breast in which no corresponding sentiment 
had a place. And, if Christianity requires the existence of 
those very powers of the mind which the mental philosophy 
under our consideration propounds, then these two systems 
are formed to accord. The New Testament commands the 
performance of that which could not be done without the or- 
gans before-named. Void of Conscientiousness, man would 
have no self-directing sentiment of justice. He might abstain 
from certain deeds, from the mere dread of punishment — he 
might perform other deeds, from the apprehension that suffer- 
ing will be the consequence of neglect : But creatures pos- 
sessing neither reason nor conscience do the same. He who 
does some good to another, under the compulsory power of 
dreaded punishment, if the deed be omitted, or a contrary one 
be done, is actuated by no higher a principle than that which 
influences the mastiff. In such a deed there can be nothing 
praiseworthy. To force the performance of actions is to ren- 
der them involuntary ; but to extort from men involuntary ac- 
tions, the gospel does not put forth its power — to reward them 
it does not promise. When, then, Christianity enjoins the 
discharge of moral duties, and promises obedience rewards, it 
not only recognizes the existence of the necessary moral powers, 
but affirms that those powers may be and must be rightly and 
efficiently employed. 

3. The third class of sentiments are those which are the 
principal instruments in the discharge of the duties which man 
owes to God. These are termed Veneration, Hope, Wonder, 

D 



•26 

and Ideality.* And constantly do Christ and his Apostle9 
call for the exercise of each of these sentiments of the human 
mind. All that is great and wise and good is ascribed to the 
Father in Heaven, that he may be venerated — all that can in- 
spire confidence and trust is attributed to him, that man's faith 
and hope in God may be strong — and all that is marvellous, 
stupendous, sublime, is declared to pertain to him, that 
men may wonder, praise, and adore. But, without the organs 
just named, men could neither venerate, nor hope in, nor adore 
their Creator. There must be in man the chords which vibrate 
to the tones of religion, or even the master's hand could not 
educe them. A human being who has placed himself under 
the entire management of Christianity assumes a now aspect, 
and gives forth to the circle around him a thrilling harmony 
which he had never before yielded. But it is just as a musi- 
cal instrument sends forth new melodies in obedience to the 
highly-skilful fingers of the performer. The instrument is 
new, because it is under 4:he influence of a new power ; but its 
natural constitution remains unchanged ; its tones can never 
exceed, much less oppose its nature. And so of man. But 
man has this advantage — he is a self-acting instrument. He 
who renders no praise and adoration to his God must be either 
an instrument unattuned, or acted upon by unskilful hands. 
But the requisites for the moral melody are there, and man 
may allow them to be called forth. Every human mind, not 
physically malformed or diseased, has, according to Phreno- 
logy, all the organs in question in a higher or lower degree. 
And does not Christianity say the same ? Why else does it 
call upon every man to employ them ? Why else does it 
command every one to have the mind of Christ, and to hope 
in Heaven, and to adore the eternal King ? But we must now 
mention two of the moral sentiments which lend their aid 
alike to each of the classes which have been named, and as- 
sist in the discharge of every duty. These are, Firmness and 
Imitation.* To resist the evil and pursue the good, these are 

* See Table. 



27 



indispensable. When Jesus tells his disciples to " take up the 
cross and follow him," not " fearing those who can kill the 
body," — and when Paul says, "Be not shaken in mind ;" " stand 
fast, quit ye like men, be strong,'' — they recognize the power 
called Firmness. And, when Christ calls upon men to learn of 
him and copy his example, he teaches the existence of the 
power of Imitation. Firmess of purpose, moral daring, and 
a constant employment of the imitative power, upon that 
which is worthy to be copied, are demanded by every promise 
and prospect of the gospel. Without them no Christian ex- 
cellence is to be attained — no Christian reward to be secured. 
Let us now see how our comparison of the principles of the 
two systems stands. The one teaches that there are certain 
natural moral sentiments, which are elementary constituents 
of the human mind ; the other appeals to these sentiments 
as to things which actually exist in man. By one it is assert- 
ed that these sentiments, rightly directed, will lead to the 
discharge of individual, relative, and religious duties ; by the 
other it is affirmed that man must employ those powers to do 
as he would be done unto, — to serve his God, and to work out 
his salvation. One system teaches that human beings are 
constituted moral agents ; the other treats them as such. 
Every page of man's history proves his possession of those 
moral powers. Every page of the New Testament addresses 
itself to them. Too often have they been most wofully ne- 
glected, misapplied, enfeebled, and debased. But was there 
ever upon earth a people devoid of the sentiments of right 
and wrong, honour and dishonour ? Did ever a people exist 
who evinced no sentiments of wonder and veneration towards 
things stupendous and a power superhuman ? The religion 
of the most superstitious is evidence of some natural powers 
in man which prompt to the adoration of superior objects ; 
the grossest idolatry must be the effect of some mental cause. 
What is it ? From the animal propensities alone it could not 
possibly proceed. Were man reduced to the condition of the 
ourang-outang, he would not then be a worshipper of even an 
idol. Paganism, under its most disgustingforms, still points up to 



26 

mental powers which in their nature must be good and noble, 
and in their designed use most salutary. The worshippers of 
Boodh in India, of Fo in China, and of Lama in Thibet, evince 
the very same mental sentiments as those which are manifest- 
ed by the worshippers of the only true God. Only change 
the object of worship and the truth of this position will be 
demonstrated. The inhabitants of India, China, and Thibet, 
might worship the Christian's God without undergoing a change 
of nature ; and any people might exchange an inferior code of 
morals and religion for one that was better, without exchang- 
ing a single power of the mind for some other. 

The law of the mind — the inward man — is essentially the 
same, notwithstanding the endless changes that may take 
place in the individual's modes of applying that law. The 
grand differences are those on the one hand in which the mo- 
ral sentiments and intellectual faculties are held captives by the 
domination of the animal propensities, and those on the other 
in which the animal propensities are under the complete con- 
trol of the moral and intellectual powers. These are the ex- 
tremes. The former is the lowest degradation and wretched- 
ness — the latter is the highest exaltation and peace. Be- 
tween these extremes are ranged all other grades of human 
character. And why are human characters thus diversified ? 
There are two grand causes — constitutional or natural differ- 
ences, and the differences produced by art or training. By a 
natural difference is not meant that one man has no moral 
sentiments and another has no animal propensities. Were 
this the case, the former would be a purely moral being with- 
out any training. To temptation he Avould be a total stranger. 
There would be no warring of his members against the law 
of his mind. For him to sin would be impossible. To such 
a one this life would be no state of trial. He would not be 
a probationer on earth. His virtue would be necessary, un- 
avoidable, non-meritorious. But the latter individual would 
be a purely animal being, even though he should have re- 
ceived the utmost amount of the best possible training. No 
temptation would he be able to resist. There could be no 



29 

war of his inward man against his members. For him to be 
virtuous would be impossible. His crimes against others 
would be necessary, and therefore blameless. His life then 
could not be a condition of moral discipline and education. 
Natural or constitutional differences, then, cannot go to these 
extremes, if every rational being is a moral agent, exposed to 
temptation, liable to sin, and designed to attain holiness by 
resistance. 

Still there are countless differences in the natural consti- 
tution of human beings. Not that the elementary faculties 
are radically dissimilar ; but their modifications are not pre- 
cisely alike in any two individuals of the race ; and the dif- 
ferences are incalculably extended by art or training. Al- 
though education neither creates nor destroys a mental power, 
yet it orders the organs of the mind, — stimulating some, 
checking others, and bringing out to the best advantage those 
energies which are possessed and which it is most desirable 
to call into operation. Christianity, accordingly, is a system 
of education. For the training of man is it designed. Its 
object is to make the greatest possible difference in the cha- 
racters of those who are trained in its school from those who 
have been trained in schools of vice ; and this education, im- 
provement, exaltation of man, Christianity proposes to effect 
in perfect accordance with the laws of man's nature. Atten- 
tion to three unquestionable facts will bring conviction to the 
mind that this is a great truth. 

1. Man is made for moral conflict. The inward man — the 
moral sentiments — must necessarily delight in the law of God : 
But the animal propensities are constantly tending to stray 
from that law and act in opposition to it, — in other words, 
each function of the mind seeks gratification ; but that which 
would please one organ would not unfrequently pain another. 
To gratify an animal propensity is very often to offend a mo- 
ral sentiment. The member and the mind are at issue. 
There must be a war ; and one must triumph and the other 
be vanquished. If the animal propensity be victor, then the 
moral sentiments are brought into captivity to the law of sin ; 



30 

but if the inward man achieve the victory, then the propen- 
sities are made subject to the law of the mind, the deeds of 
the flesh are mortified, and the law of God is obeyed. And 
to teach men how to conduct this warfare to a glorious issue, 
Jesus came. He was tempted, and yet triumphed. He gave 
an example. He showed by what means the good soldier, 
who has enlisted in the cause of truth, self-purification, holi- 
ness, may insure success upon success till his conquests are 
complete and his rewards are made certain. Thus, the Chris- 
tian may become more than a conqueror through Christ, who 
loved him ; and thus our first fact proves, that human train- 
ing, by Christian principles, is proposed by the religion of the 
Messiah to be conducted in strict accordance with the laws of 
the mind. 

2. Christianity is completely adapted to the moral senti- 
ments of man. Were it otherwise, the New Testament would 
be a useless book. We may say that the teachings of Jesus 
are opposed to the excesses of the appetites. In this asser- 
tion we do not maintain that religion and man's nature are 
opposed. On the contrary? it is to affirm that there is some 
principle in the human mind to which those teachings appeal 
against the inordinate affections, the evil concupiscence, and 
the lusts of the flesh. But, were we to say that the doctrines 
of our Lord are opposed to the moral sentiments of man, that 
would be tantamount to asserting that the inward man, the 
law of the mind, and Christianity? are natural, inveterate, im- 
placable enemies. In this case, Christianity cannot be aiming 
to purify and direct human nature ; but to punish and de- 
stroy it. But is it so ? Does Jesus make war with man's 
whole nature, his moral sentiments, and intellectual faculties 
included, or only with the criminal indulgences of the ani- 
mal powers ? Does he say that he came to destroy man's 
natural sentiments of Benevolence, Veneration, Hope, and Con- 
scientiousness ? Does he affirm that his object was to eradi- 
cate from the human mind the powers of desiring, feeling, 
and reasoning ? Did he say that a man must deny himself 
the use of his moral and intellectual powers, to become his 



31 

disciple ? The bare putting of these questions is refutation 
in overflowing abundance of the supposition, were it possible 
to entertain it, that Jesus came to destroy human nature* 
Had he said anything like this, then it could not be true that 
he came to call sinners to repentance, — to enlighten, purify, 
and save. His work would have been to remodel the animal, 
moral, and intellectual powers of man — to change human 
beings to something not human — to take away the very capa- 
bility to err and sin. But Christianity is addressed to man, 
as man ; it recognizes his powers ; it points out his dangers ; 
it tells him what are his moral wants ; it offers abundantly to 
supply them. And thus our second fact proves that Christi- 
anity is designed to educate man in exact conformity with the 
laws of the human mind. 

3. Christianity manifests itself only through the moral sen- 
timents. The evidence of its truth is presented to the intel- 
lectual faculties ; but the evidence of its vitality, power to 
purify and exalt, and efficacy to give hope, peace, joy, can be 
made known only through the moral sentiments. When it is 
said that " religion plays round the head, but comes not near 
the heart," the meaning is, that its truths are believed but its 
influences are not felt. The head is another name for the in- 
tellectual faculties — the heart is another term for the affec- 
tions ; * and the perceptive and reflective powers, which are 
designated the reason, or the head, may be exercised upon 
the evidences for the truth of Christianity, till a firm convic- 
tion is obtained that it is from God, and worthy of all accep- 
tation. But the moral sentiments may still remain unaided 
and the animal propensities uncontrolled. Christianity, how- 
ever, is designed for the heart ; for this purpose does it ap- 
peal to the head. It would prove itself true, that it might be 
permitted to exert its power. It would convince the reason 
that it is from Heaven, in order to be allowed to take up its 
abode in the soul. It would persuade men to believe that 
Jesus was a messenger from the moral Governor of the uni- 

* See Propensities, Sentiments, and Intellect, in Table. 



82 



verse, that his message might be received by the moral senti- 
ments of man ; and thus does it seek to pour all its influences 
into the inward man, and give all its heavenly aids to that 
law of the mind which opposes the law of sin. It aims to 
heighten Self-respect, and stimulate to the careful discharge 
of all duties connected with self. It labours to strengthen 
Conscience and Benevolence, and move to the zealous per- 
formance of all duties arising out of social connexions. It en- 
deavours to invigorate Veneration, Hope, and the sentiment 
of Beauty and Sublimity, and excite to the most religious ob- 
servance of all the sacred duties which man owes to his God. 
And thus our third fact demonstrates that Christianity is a 
system of education most rigidly in accordance with the laws 
of man's mind. Nor could it be otherwise, if the doctrines of 
the New Testament and the mental principles are both from 
the same unerring wisdom and boundless love. Admit that 
God constituted the human mind, and communicated through 
Christ to that mind a revelation of his will, and it inevitably 
follows that they cannot be essentially inimical to each other. 
They must in their nature harmonize. In the operations of 
some of the powers of the mind, hostility to the principles of 
Christianity is indeed too often manifested ; and this was the 
very circumstance that rendered the gospel necessary. Had 
man never been led astray by his animal propensities, Jesus 
and his teachings had never been needed. But, if man had 
been left without moral powers, through whose instrumen- 
tality the abuses of the inferior functions might be corrected, 
Christ and Christianity would have been utterly useless. The 
moral and religious principles of the New Testament are 
needed by a being liable to err and sin ; and they are of the 
utmost value, the highest use, to one who has within him 
powers which, if duly trained and properly employed, will be 
efficient in the performance of moral and religious duties. 

We close with two remarks. 

1. To deny the existence of natural moral powers, is to re- 
fute experience and Christianity. The moral and religious 
sentiments have been, in numberless instances, very clearly dis- 



33 

played by those to whom the gospel was totally unknown. Of' 
such Paul declares " they were a law to themselves." Many a 
Heathen is more virtuous than many a professin 5 Christian ; 
but let not this be supposed to be disparaging to Christianity. 
All have not the spirit of Christ who call themselves his fol- 
lowers — all do not feel the power of Christianity who wear 
her form. The fault is in the man, not his system. Nor is 
the fault in man's nature, but in his mode of using it* The 
doctrines of the New Testament declare themselves able to 
make men wise, good, holy ; but not without men's own exer- 
tions, much less in opposition to those exertions. And, that 
this pledge of ability to ennoble the soul has been redeemed, 
the testimony of countless multitudes who have been regene- 
rated by the gospel, has proved. But never was an instance 
furnished of an individual having had moral powers actually 
created within him, by even Christianity. Religion has in- 
deed been called forth where it had not previously been dis- 
played ; but religion is a certain mode of manifesting the 
existence of some of the moral sentiments, not an evidence 
that the elementary organs of the mind have been exchanged 
for others. Besides, all that is styled religion is not that 
which the name is designed to imply. Some feelings so call- 
ed are merely animal ; some are only fear of punishment, 
terror at death, and futurity ; and some are nothing higher 
or holier than bigotry and fanaticism: But true Religion 
dwells among the moral powers, and manifests herself in love. 
2. Our second remark is, that, as we find the connexion 
between the moral sentiments and Christianity so clearly 
proved, we must conclude that they are designed to act mu- 
tually on each other. This is the sum of the present inquiry. 
Man is a moral agent, exposed to pernicious influences, and 
direful effects, from the excesses of his animal propensities. 
Reason and human experience advise him to sustain a con- 
flict against the attempts of those propensities to step over 
the boundaries within which they may legitimately seek grati- 
fication. But Christianity addresses him in plainer terms, 
and a much more urgent strain : It tells him that loss and 



34 

pain, both here and hereafter, will be the result of allowing hi& 
moral powers to be reduced to base captivity by blind, cla- 
morous, violent propensities ; and it assures him that gain, 
and glory, both in this life and that which is to come, shall be 
the reward of his using all the means within his power to give 
his moral sentiments the ascendency, the entire dominion over 
the law of sin in the members ; and Christianity offers to in- 
struct, to aid, to befriend, in the important work. Only let 
the aim be mutual, be one ; and not only will the inward man 
delight in the law of God, but obey it, and secure the invalu- 
able reward which Heaven has promised to the obedient. 



INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 



MATTHEW XIII. 23. 



" He that receiveth the seed into the good ground, is he that heareth 
the Word and understandeth it ; which also beareth fruit and bringeth 
forth some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." 

What a plain and momentous statement ! But, alas ! those 
sayings of Jesus which are at once the most plain and practi- 
cal, are those which are the least understood and applied. 
They are overlooked because they are so unadorned and na- 
tural ; they are neglected because they appeal to facts so obvi- 
ous, and enjoin the performance of duties so reasonable. Dis- 
puting and dividing about doubtful points, are preferred to the 
practical application of the plainest principles. Had the single 
sentence just quoted been seen, felt, and employed in all its 
simple, majestic beauty, heavenly power, and benignant spirit, 
by professing Christians in all ages, most of their controver- 
sies on the design of Christianity would have been spared, 
and all their bigotry and persecutions would have been utterly 
unknown. They could not have required one another to re- 



35 

«eive that which could not be understood, if they had acted 
upon the Saviour's maxim, — that he alone receiveth the seed 
into good ground who heareth the Word and understandeth 
it. They could not have expected that all should think and 
act precisely alike if they had proceeded upon the declaration 
of Jesus, that, while some of the good ground brought forth 
fruit a hundredfold, others of the very same description could 
bring forth only sixty or thirty. Had Christians always re- 
cognized the truth, that the soil of the mind, like that of the 
earth, is diversified in its susceptibilities of production, they 
had never fallen into the monstrous opinion that they could, 
by anathemas, hatred, and religious fury, new-model the men- 
tal principles, and compel every human mind to yield the 
same quantity of the same kind of fruit. 

But why did they not recognize this truth when their great 
Master had placed it so fully in their view ? Why were 
Christians ever bigots, fanatics, and persecutors, when they 
were so positively forbidden to be either, by their exemplar 
and guide ? Because they turned away from plain things, to 
wander and lose themselves among speculative perplexities. 
They left the straight and flowery path of truth and love and 
peace, to pursue the crooked and thorny mazes of error and 
malice and war. And then they foolishly expected each other 
to listen attentively to words which they could not possibly 
understand, and to bring forth fruits which the great Husband- 
man never required — which the mental soil could never pro- 
duce. They did not attend to those laws of the mind, of duty, 
and of religion, to which Jesus so earnestly and so plainly 
pointed. They looked some other way. They heard some 
other sounds — they chose some other principles. But, under 
the influence of these principles, the human mind has been 
misunderstood, and Christianity has been misapprehended. 
Both have been wofully misapplied, and the consequences have 
been awful. From these let us seek to escape ; and, to accom- 
plish this object, we must acquire as much knowledge as possible 
of the capabilities and tendencies of our own mental powers, 
and of the adaptation of any system of mental improvement 



36 

to the nature and necessities of those powers. This has been 
attempted with the animal propensities and moral sentiments 
of man, viewed in connexion with Christianity ; and it is 
hoped that a certain amount of success has attended the un- 
dertaking. A similar attempt has now to be made with the 
intellectual faculties of man, and the Christian system. Are 
these adapted to each other ? Are they framed for one ano- 
ther ? We think a careful investigation of the principles re- 
cognized by Jesus Christ in the passage which has been 
quoted, will affirmatively and satisfactorily answer the ques- 
tions. 

In these words we have three distinct subjects of considera- 
tion : The human understanding, some naturally good ground, 
and the word or seed that is sown upon it, with the fruit that is 
yielded. We must endeavour to attach clear ideas to each of 
thesa phrases, if we desire to be benefited by the truths which 
they contain. 

1. We have to ascertain what is meant by the human un- 
derstanding. This necessity arises out of the fact set forth, 
that he only who understandeth the Word reeeiveth the seed 
into good ground. The word " understanding " is the repre- 
sentative of the same idea as the Avoids " reason," "judg- 
ment," and " head," when these are employed to signify cer- 
tain mental powers ; and the powers intended by these ex- 
pressions are the intellectual faculties. He who, in common 
language, is said to have the best understanding, judgment, 
reason, or head, is he who possesses the best intellectual fa- 
culties for understanding, reasoning, and judging, and ha9 
employed them aright. Of these intellectual faculties, Phreno- 
logy enumerates fourteen. Some are designated perceptive 
and others reflective organs.* The former acquire know- 
ledge — the latter examine its nature, origin, and use. Exter- 
nal visible objects make impressions on the mind through the 
instrumentality of the eye ; sounds act on the mental organs 
through the ear ; and, by the five bodily senses, all simple 

* See Table — Intellectual Faculties. 



37 

perceptions are obtained. But it is by the reflection alone 
that these mere sensations are converted to those ideas which 
are called an acquaintance with the causes and effects, the re- 
lationships and dependencies, of things and events. The whole 
stock of any individual's knowledge and opinions is made up of 
a certain number of single ideas. The difference between the 
knowledge possessed by one person and that held by another 
is simply the difference in the number and distinctness of those 
two persons' ideas. Hence the extent of knowledge will be in 
proportion to the two following circumstances, — the quality of 
the bodily senses and mental powers, and the manner in which 
they have been employed. If the five senses and the powers of 
the mind are both superior, and have been employed in the best 
possible manner, then the ideas acquired are the most numer- 
ous and clear. Such a person lias most knowledge. But if 
the senses and the mental powers are inferior, and have been 
very defectively trained, then the ideas collected are few and 
indistinct. Such a person has but little knowledge. The un- 
derstanding? reason, judgment, or head of the first, would be 
designated strong, good : That of the latter would be termed 
weak, bad. Yet each is an understanding. 

By the understanding, then, is net meant the same range 
of powers and the same amount of knowledge. Still there 
must he the same elementary principles. There must be per- 
ceiving faculties, and there must be also reflecting. No being 
can fully understand a subject unless he is capable of per- 
ceiving its various integral parts, their connexions, depen- 
dencies, and combinations, in forming a whole. But there 
are certain subjects which no training can make some persons 
understand. Painting, Poetry, Sculpture, and even Mathe- 
matics, cannot be apprehended by many human minds, 
into which other subjects find a ready admittance. Their 
powers of perceiving must therefore differ from those of the 
painter, the poet, the sculptor, and the mathematician ; and 
this is just the view taken by Phrenology. That mental 
science teaches, that although each individual has the same 
number of perceiving and reflecting organs, yet in power and 



38 

activity these organs are found to differ in every human be- 
ing from every other. The understanding, accordingly, can- 
not possibly be the same on every subject of thought in any 
two persons in existence. Still there are some subjects which 
every rational being can understand. They can perceive and 
reflect upon their several parts, their connexions, their modes 
of combination, and their effects as a whole ; and this is un- 
derstanding a subject. The perception may not be so clear, 
the reflection less strong and profound, in one than in 
another. The consequence will be, that one understands 
his subject less perfectly than another ; but to under- 
stand at all requires at least a knowledge of the essential 
constituents of a subject. But knowledge and opinion are 
made up of ideas : So then there must be in the mind ideas 
of the fundamental principles which constitute a subject, or 
that subject is not understood. Thus, Zoology, Botany, Che- 
mistry, and Astronomy, are not understood, unless the con- 
stituent principles of jhose sciences are, as so many ideas, 
laid up in the mind. It is the same of Christianity. As no 
man knows or understands any art or science a hairbreadth 
beyond the number and distinctness of his ideas, so no one 
can have more knowledge or understanding of Christianity 
than that which is represented by the sum-total of his ideas. 
Let any one number his own ideas upon Christianity or any 
other subject, and he will ascertain the amount of his know- 
ledge or understanding in either ; and the extent to which he 
knows or understands the Word is made by Jesus Christ the 
measure of probability that it will reach the good ground and 
produce the desired fruit, if not a hundredfold, yet sixty or 
thirty. 

2. We must therefore next endeavour to determine what 
is signified by the good ground. Already has it been shown 
that Christianity seeks to control the animal propensities and 
reign in the moral sentiments.* But it must here be added, 
that it could accomplish neither the one nor the other, except 

* See preceding Lecturer. 



39 

through the intellectual faculties. Although the doctrines of 
the New Testament have been found to be applicable to the 
propensities and sentiments, we have not discovered how 
they can be applied without the perceiving and reflecting 
powers. A man must see and be persuaded that the Chris- 
tian system is adapted to his nature and wants ere he can 
avail himself of its assistance and derive benefit from its aid. 
To those only who have an ear does Christianity deign to 
speak. Not to the blind does she set forth her beauties. Not 
to the mentally incapacitated does she offer her wisdom. 
The awakened ear, the observant eye, the sensitive touch, 
can alone hear her words, see her features, and feel her em- 
brace. Her accents are sweet and her propositions clear ; but 
not to the deaf. Her form and lineaments are the perfection 
of grace and beauty ; but not to the visionless mind. Her em- 
brace is thrilling softness and winning love ; but not to him 
who is wholly void of feeling. 

And the hearing, seeing, and feeling required, will be 
found to be a combination of the intellectual faculties with 
the moral sentiments. They must cooperate ; they must be 
one. These are the terms on which alone Christianity pro- 
mises to undertake the moral and religious improvement of 
man. And why ? Because the moral sentiments cannot be 
rendered instrumental in directing aright the animal propen- 
sities, without the steady cooperation of the intellectual facul- 
ties ; nor the intellect itself be rendered available in keeping 
tire propensities to their legitimate employments and the dis- 
charge of their natural duties, without the equally steady 
cooperation of the moral sentiments.* The moral senti- 
ments, then, are the good ground. They are what the words 
" heart," " affections/' and " feelings," are in current phraseo- 
logy usually employed to signify. 

Upon this good ground the seed of morality and religion 
is to be sown. Here, this seed is to vegetate, attain matu- 

• See Table — Uses of Moral Sentiments and Intellectual Faculties. 



40 

rity, and produce fruit : But this seed can reach its desti- 
nation only through the understanding. If the understand- 
ing were wholly wanting, the seed could never pass to the 
good ground ; and the inflexible opposition of the under- 
standing would have the same interdictory effect. This ac- 
counts for the constant demands upon the perceiving and re- 
flecting faculties, made by the Author of the Christian system, 
" Why do ye not understand ?" " Why even of yourselves 
judge ye not what is right?'' and many similar expressions of 
Jesus, show that he did not expect to reach the heart but 
through the head. The intellect is to moral and religious in- 
structions what the hand of the husbandman is to the grain 
which he scatters over the soil. It is that which makes a 
judicious deposit ; it is that by which alone the precious seed 
is committed to the ground. Christianity addressee the in- 
tellect : She appeals to the faculties enumerated by Phreno- 
logy ; she gives her commands to these faculties; her authority 
and evidences she presents to the intellect. And all this she 
does in order to obtain that influence over the moral senti- 
ments, and that dominion over the animal propensities, which 
she could not by any other means possibly obtain. 

And the method by which Christianity aims to direct the 
actions of men, by enlightening the mind and exalting the 
soul, is precisely that which Phrenology points out as that and 
that alone which is practicable. It gives to the perceiving 
organs new ideas or knowledge, and to the reflecting facul- 
ties new matter for reflection ; and thus it sends to the moral 
sentiments new stimulants, and throws around the animal pro- 
pensities new restraints. The mental system with which we 
are tracing out the connexion of Christian principles, main- 
tains, that it is only by furnishing the intellectual faculties 
with their most appropriate aliment, and accumulating a pro- 
per stock of ideas or knowledge, and employing this know- 
ledge as a stimulant and guide to the moral sentiments, that 
the animal propensities can be made to perform their natural 
functions, without breaking through their boundaries, and 



4J 



plunging into the deep waters of excess.* The New Testa- 
ment gives utterance to the very same position-. These sys- 
tems are in unison. But we must now proceed 

3. To ascertain what we are to understand Vy the seed or 
Word. That it is a principle of production, the connexion in 
.vhich it is employed abundantly proves. But what are its 
qualities and uses ? It cannot be that among its qualities and 
uses one is to create a soil, for its declared object is to find 
one. The seed cannot be the ground ; but the ground which 
it would find is one that would be adapted to its nature. That 
ground, we have seen, is the moral sentiments ; to these then 
it must be fitted. Then, if it be sown and nurtured, neither 
permitted to be trodden under foot, scorched by a burning heat, 
nor choked with thorns, it will spring up luxuriantly and yield 
abundance of fruit. But if its only congenial element is a 
moral soil and a moral atmosphere, then its qualities and uses 
must be moral ; and then, too, the fruit must be of the same 
character ; for there is always a corresponding analogy be- 
tween the fruit, the tree, and the soil. The Author of the 
physical world is also the Author of the mental world, and he 
operates according to similar principles in both. 

In the vegetable kingdom, fruits, if sown as seed, produce their 
like ; but the crop is limited by the nature of the soil and cli- 
mate. So of the mind : Sow the seeds of poesy on some 
minds, and they will yield abundance of fruit of a similar kind, — 
while the very same seeds deposited in another mind would 
be lost, would perish. In the latter case, the mental soil and 
temperature must be uncongenial, or there must have been 
some sad mismanagement. But then, no soil, temperature, and 
management, could make the acorn to produce wheat, or a 
grain of wheat to yield an oak. If, then, the seed or Word 
means Christianity, and the fruit it is designed to bring forth 
is analogous to the good ground from which it is to be obtained, 
it must be a system of moral and intellectual principles. And, 
to exercise the intellect, and excite the moral sentiments, and 



Compare uses of Intellect, with Abuses of Propensities, in Table 



r 



48 

to generate actions which shall be rational, just, generous, and 
benignant, must be its design, and such are its professed 
objects. It declares itself to be an emanation of the great 
fountain of Intelligence to the human intellect. It pro- 
fesses to be from the moral Governor of the Universe to 
his moral creature, man. It designates itself a system of 
heavenly wisdom, mercy, and love, addressed to the heads 
and hearts of rational and moral beings, for the purpose 
of calling forth the fruits of wisdom, mercy, and love. It af- 
firms itself to be purity, piety, perfection, designed for tin* 
good ground of the human soul, — there to be sown, thereto be 
nurtured, that there it might produce purity and piety, and 
lead to perfection. Are not the two systems which we are 
considering in perfect harmony ? Does not one show man 
constituted upon those very principles, in strict accordance 
with which the other professes to act? Does not Phreno- 
logy show that intellect and moral sentiment are to be 
supreme, and Christianity require them to be so ? Evidently 
they are meant for an indissoluble connexion. And from these 
ascertained facts, consequences of the very highest moment 
flow. A few of these our subject requires us to notice* 

1. Each human mind must be a world of its own. In each 
there is, to use the language of Scripture, "good ground ;" or y 
to employ the phraseology of the science, the moral senti- 
ments.* In each, too, according to both, there are the animal 
propensities and the intellectual faculties. Both recognize 
a power in the animal nature of man to raise the storms of 
passion and the tempests of anger, revenge, and fury.f Both 
speak of mental diversities, and of varied capabilities of pro- 
ducing intellectual and moral fruit. Both suppose the neces- 
sity of mental and moral culture ; both represent the tendency 
of the mere propensities to be to overrun the good ground 
and choke and destroy the seeds which may be sown upon it, 
and to wrest the soil itself from the possession of the intel- 

* See Table, Moral Sentiments, 
f See Abuses of Animal Propensities. 



43 

lectual faculties. The mind, then, bears that strong analogy 
to the physical world which fully warranted the employment 
of those beautiful figures that were selected by Jesus for the 
purpose of instituting a comparison between mental and na- 
tural phenomena. 

As there are stony places and thorny wastes on the sur- 
face of the earth, so there are impervious and unproductive 
sections in every mind. As all uncultivated soils yield use- 
less or noxious weeds, so every undisciplined mind produces 
either fruits of small value, or those whose nature is actually 
pernicious. As intense heat scorches up the productions of 
the earth, so the violence of the animal propensities withers 
the rising crops which the moral field is sending forth. As 
physical evils flow from Nature's elements, so moral evils 
spring from the mind: And as, under the very best possible 
management, some seeds cast into the earth will decay, some 
blossoms will fade, and some weeds will spring up among 
the grain, so will the human mind, while man continues a pro- 
bationer upon this globe, be found to be actuated in some de- 
gree by those antagonist principles which will destroy some 
moral seeds, blight some moral blossoms, and produce some 
moral weeds. But what woidd be thought of that husband- 
man's wisdom who should affirm that his land had not a single 
good quality in it, because it yielded some weeds ? At what 
rate would that man's veracity be estimated who should as- 
sert that the best crop of wheat is rendered utterly valueless, 
and even injurious, by a few bad grains and wild seeds ? Who 
could believe that the great globe is a mass of poison, be- 
cause it throws up some poisonous plants ? And yet to affirm 
the first, assert the second, and believe the third, would be as 
consistent with wisdom, veracity, and fact, as to assert that 
nothing good does or can proceed naturally from the human 
mind. While there is no mind wholly void of barren spots 
and noxious weeds, there is not one to be found totally des- 
titute of good ground and useful fruit. 

2. The Author of the mind will not expect its fruit to bo 
more in quantity and better in quality than the mental ground 



44 

can produce. By the mouth of his Messenger he has declared 
that he is not a hard master, desiring to reap where he has 
not sown, and gather where he has not strawed. To main- 
tain that the Deity demands the same feelings, and opinions, 
and conduct, from every human being, when he has made 
every one to differ in some respect from all the rest, is to 
contend that he is less equitable than the creatures of his 
hand. It is to pronounce him a hard master, and to set a 
mere theory in opposition to the most obvious facts. But 
Jesus declares that some of even the good ground yields only 
thirtyfold, while others produce a hundred. And yet lie 
furnishes no warrant for believing that the smaller pro- 
duce will be rejected and the ground condemned. It has 
yielded according to its capabilities; its fruits are accepted, 
and it is characterized by the proud distinction — good. This 
is another mode of expressing the idea which the Author 
of Christianity has elsewhere conveyed. Those who ha 
received ten talents must account for that number ; but those 
who have received only one will never be called upon 
to account for ten : And, as the Judge of all the earth will 
do right, should there be any who have received no talent, 
they will not be required to render up an account of what 
they never possessed. And upon this same principle the 
Word or seed of Christianity is not expected to vegetate and 
yield fruit where it has never been sown. Phrenology points 
out the number of talents received, and estimates the quan- 
tity of good ground in each mind. 

3. As the intellectual faculties are the only media of ac- 
cess to the moral sentiments, and the moral sentiments are 
the only instruments by which the animal propensities can 
be duly restrained and beneficially directed, virtue, piety, 
and true religion, must be in proportion to the strength, ic- 
tivity, and harmonious cooperation of the intellect and moral 
powers. It has been said, that " ignorance is the mother of 
devotion." But of what devotion? Can ignorance pro- 
duce the devotion of the wrapt-ennobled soul ? Can it send 
forth the devotion of Christ ? — No. The devotion of igno- 



45 

ranee is low, grovelling, superstitious ; it is mere fear, tinc- 
tured deeply with the dark colouring which the animal nature 
has given it. It is false devotion. That which is true is ever 
brightened highly by the glowing tints that the combined 
energies of the intellect and moral powers have impressed 
upon it. There is no beauty in the devotion which is the off- 
spring of ignorance ; its parentage is base ; the issue is of but 
little worth ; too often has it proved worse than worthless. 
It has led men to fanaticism and persecution — to the com- 
mission of the most atrocious crimes, and the infliction upon 
themselves and others of the direst miseries. It has given 
the name religion to that which which was positive mad- 
ness. But such insanity was never produced by hearing the 
Word and understanding it, and receiving the good seed into 
the good ground of the mind. Thirty, sixty, or a hundred- 
fold of bigotry, anger, wrath, and malice, are the very coun- 
terpart of those fruits of love, and joy, and peace, that the 
religion of Jesus is designed to produce ; and, " by their fruits 
shall ye know them." " If a man have not the spirit of 
Christ, he is none of his." But, to know what that spirit was, 
requires the exercise of both the perceiving and reflecting 
powers. The fundamental command, " Learn of me," can- 
not be obeyed without a vigorous use of the intellectual facul- 
ties ; but, the more carefully these are trained, and the more 
assiduously the moral sentiments are at the same time culti- 
vated, the higher must the individual ascend in excellence, 
true religion, and positive enjoyment. 

We are thus conducted to the following principles as the 
sum of our three lectures. According to Christianity and 
Phrenology, man is composed of an animal nature, a moral 
nature, and an intellectual nature. Between the first and 
the second there is a constant warfare, — the third sometimes 
aiding the animal and sometimes the moral. The animal na- 
ture tends to excess ; and, when this excess is sanctioned and 
aided by the intellectual nature, then and only then sin is the 
result ; for sin is the wilful or voluntary transgression of a 
known law. The more the animal nature is aided by the in- 



46 

tellectual, the more enormous and dreadful are" the sins com- 
mitted ; and, if the animal nature has once entirely engaged 
the intellectual in its service, and wholly subdued the moral 
to its control, then is the individual reduced to the very low- 
est degree of degradation, and then does he become the most 
awful offender : But if the moral nature has completely en- 
gaged the intellectual in its service, and totally subdued the 
animal to its sway, then is the individual elevated to the high- 
est degree of moral excellence, and enabled to become the 
strict observer of every righteous and holy law.* This is to 
attain complete self-government: This is to acquire the 
greatest moral strength : This is to become pure in heart : 
This is to overcome temptation — to subdue evil concupiscence, 
inordinate affection, and worldly lusts : This is to be born 
again and become a new creature : This is to secure peace 
through piety and happiness through holiness. 

Who, then, can with reason tax this arrangement of man's 
mental powers with any radical defect ? Who can with con- 
sistency demur ? Does not every one feel, that, in this state 
at least, he needs his animal powers as much as his moral and 
intellectual ?f And, if those powers are in themselves as 
good as they are necessary — and they are, when legitimately 
employed, the sources of no inconsiderable amount of human 
enjoyment — shall man repine against them, because, by his 
own neglect or voluntary misapplication, they have involved 
him in crime and suffering ? To find fault with any of the 
powers of the mind, what is it but to find fault with him who 
made them ? To affirm, that, because man's animal nature 
leads him into the transgression of the law, therefore his 
whole nature, the moral and intellectual included, is sin, and 
man must transgress, what is it but to affirm that there is no 
inward man that delights in the law of God, no good ground 
on which the seeds of virtue and religion can be sown, and 

* God's laws may be dividedmto the Physical, Organic, and Moral ; the 
latter including Religious. 

t See consequences of deficient Animal Propensities, in Table. 



47 

no understanding to direct ? And what is all this but placing 
the crimes of the creature to the account of his Creator ? But 
not so will he speak and think of his own nature who has 
learnt what that nature really is. 

Man is what it has pleased his God to make him. That 
Maker is too wise to err and too good to be unkind. He 
has constituted man for trial and improvement. Has he done 
wrong ? To subject man to trial and render him susceptible 
of improvement, he planted within the human mind three 
sets of powers, or, as it were, three natures, — the animal, 
the moral, and the intellectual ; and hence the moral war- 
fare that man has to wage, and hence the moral victory that 
he may gain. Was this a mixture of cruelty and error? 
Man's improvement or degradation depends upon the right 
use or the misdirection of the powers possessed and the 
means enjoyed. Is not this just and right? Christianity 
is professedly means of heavenly grace for acting through 
and upon the three sets of natural human powers to pre- 
vent vice and promote virtue — for enlightening, purifying, 
and exalting man in this life, and preparing him for endless 
felicity. Is this irrational? — Assuredly not. Man, Nature, 
Christianity, and all the dispensations of Deity, are graciously 
fitted to each other. 

Wisely and well must he be employed who carefully studies 
his own constitution, condition, and means of improvement, 
and resolutely applies the knowledge acquired to the purposes 
for which it is sought. Such a one heareth the Word and un- 
derstandeth it, receiveth the seed into good ground, and 
bringeth forth fruits worthy of a moral and intellectual be- 
ing — fruits that his Maker will accept — fruits that shall never 
decay : Yes, we repeat, fruits that shall never decay ; for it 
is clear that the moral and intellectual powers of man are 
susceptible of indefinite expansion, improvement, exaltation ; 
and therefore for nothing less can they possibly be designed 
than endless, evergrowing enjoyment. 



48 



NOTE. 

In the preceding lectures, man is viewed under one general aspect. 
Phrenology teaches that every individual differs from every other. This 
may at first appear a discrepancy. Christianity is taken to be a moral and 
religious system for raising every man to a high deyree of moral and reli- 
gious energy. Phrenology maintains that the natural sentiments which 
produce the moral and religious character are in some individuals very 
low. This may seem a contradiction. The apparent discrepancy, how- 
ever, is easily adjusted — the seeming contradiction without difficulty 
brought to agree. The Bible could not have descended from the grand 
general principles which it gives for the regulation of human conduct 
into endless minor details and countless minute exceptions, without very 
much lessening its own power, if not actually defeating its own aim. It 
was not designed to excuse, but to stimulate. It was not meant to show 
men how small an amount of morals and religion would serve their own 
purpose and please their God, but to urge upon them the attainment of 
the greatest sum. Its object is to render every one as highly informed 
and as strictly practical in matters of morals and religion as the capabilities 
of each will admit : But it does not aim at impossibilities. Its standard of 
excellence is high, its point of purity is lofty, and it incites every one to 
attain that standard and reach that point : But it never affirms that those 
who have put forth all their energies and used their best endeavours to at- 
tain the one and reach the other, and yet failed, shall be lost. On the 
contrary, it most positively avers, that he who has improved the one talent 
bestowed, and wrought the one hour afforded, shall obtain a reward. 

It must, then, be as allowable to view man under a general aspect, and 
to speak of Christianity as a system for exalting every man to the higher 
regions of morality and religion, — although every individual differs from all 
others, and some possess the moral sentiments only in a low degree, — as it 
is to speak of knowledge, food, and sunlight, as designed and fitted for all, 
although the incapacitated cannot receive the first, the diseased partake of 
the second, nor the blind perceive the last. It is said aliment is for the 
stomach, and the stomach for aliment : Yet the physician finds a patient 
who cannot take food. Is this exception fatal to the general principle ? 
Does it even in the slightest degree affect that principle? And if not, 
must it not be the same when the Phrenologist discovers an individual 
with very deficient moral sentiments ? This is an exception — not a con- 
tradiction. Upon the principle thus explained, the three lectures have 
proceeded ; and, as this method is presumed to be perfectly legitimate, it 
is concluded that there can be no rational ground for pronouncing the 
statements made respecting Christianity and Phrenology to be any way 
inconsistent with unity of object and harmony of action. 






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